Fascinating Biology

Learn the basic principles of biology, including the components of life: cell membranes, taking in nutrients, creating chemical energy, growing and repairing, reproducing, maintaining a stable internal environment, and adapting to a changing external environment.
SAMPLE FASCINATING BIOLOGY LESSON
Click on a lesson below for more Information

Cumulative Tests begin at Unit 2

Unit I: Introduction

Unit I: Introduction

Chapter 1: Making biology relevant

  • Showing prospective employers that you accept responsibility

Chapter 2: The need for scientific reasoning

Chapter 3: Four views of the world

  • Viewing the world on a microscopic level
  • Viewing the world on an atomic level

Unit 2: What is Life?

Unit 2: What is Life?

Chapter 1: Explaining why things happen

  • Possible explanations
  • Hypothesis vs. theory
  • Proposing a hypothesis
  • Hypotheses predict things
  • Confirming a hypothesis

Chapter 2: How did the universe begin?

  • The Big Bang hypothesis
  • Predictions from the Big Bank hypothesis
  • Formation of the sun
  • Formation of the earth

Chapter 3: The Early Earth

  • Origin of water
  • The early atmosphere

Chapter 4: The Origin of Life

  • The Oparin-Haldane hypothesis
  • Predictions from the Oparin-Haldane hypothesis
  • Miller and Urey’s experiment supporting the Oparin-Haldane hypothesis

Chapter 5: What are the Necessary Components of Life: WHat Must Do or Have to Be Considered Alive?

  • It must have a waterproof place to construct life
  • It must take in energy
  • It must take in nutrients
  • It must grow
  • It must reproduce
  • It must respond to changes in its internal environment
  • It must adapt to long-term changes in the external environment

Unit 3: The Chemistry of Life

Unit 3: The Chemistry of Life

Chapter 1: Carbon- the basis of life

Chapter 2: States of Matter

  • Why are there solids, liquids, and gases?
  • The intermolecular bond
  • Polar and nonpolar molecules

Chapter 3: The Intramolecular Bond

  • Ionic bond
  • Covalent bond
  • Polar covalent bond

Chapter 4: The Intermolecular Bond

  • The hydrogen bond
  • Van der Waals forces

Chapter 5: The Periodic Table

  • Electron shells Electrons her shell

Chapter 6: Electronegativity

  • Chart of electronegativity
  • Determining the intramolecular bond from the electronegativity chart Hydrocarbons

Chapter 7: Van der Waals Forces

  • Increasing the number of van der Waals bonds with longer molecules
  • Increasing the number of van der Waals bonds with cooling
  • Increasing the number of van der Waals bonds with pressure

Chapter 8: Nonpolar vs. Polar Molecules

  • Why water and oil don’t mix
  • Micelle formation

Chapter 9: Making Nonpolar Molecules Polar

  • Attaching polar caps
  • Phospholipids
  • Replacing one hydrogen atom with an oxygen atom
  • Alcohols, aldehydes, ketones, ethers, carboxylic acids, and esters Volatility and fragrance
  • Weak acids
  • Attaching oxygen atoms to each carbon atom

Chapter 10: Carbohydrates

  • Monosaccharides
  • Polysaccharides
  • Oxidation
  • Oxidation of hydrocarbons
  • Oxidation of carbohydrates

Chapter 11: Proteins

  • Amino acids
  • Polar and nonpolar amino acids
  • Protein folding
  • Protein binding site
  • Hemoglobin
  • Heme and iron
  • Collagen
  • Lipoproteins
  • Enzymes
  • Protein denaturation

Chapter 12: Nucleic Acids

  • Structure of RNA and DNA
  • Nucleic acids
  • Ribose and deoxyribose

Unit 4: The Cell Membrane

Unit 4: The Cell Membrane

Chapter 1: Designing a waterproof environment

  • Requirement of life for water
  • Making a cell membrane waterproof
  • Making a waterproof membrane polar
  • Lipid bilayer
  • Designing a way to allow polar and nonpolar molecules through a membrane

Unit 5: Take in Nutrients

Unit 5: Take in Nutrients

Chapter 1:Getting nutrients into the cell

  • Why molecules move
  • Discovery of Brownian movement
  • Hypothesis to explain Brownian movement
  • Testing the hypothesis
  • Einstein’s contribution to understanding Brownian movement
  • Bulk movement of solutes
  • Diffusion

Chapter 2: Concentration Gradients

  • The Law of Entropy
  • Concentration gradients
  • Reading graphs of solutes diffusing
  • Reversing entropy requires energy
  • Moving up a concentration gradient
  • Concentrating solutes heats up solutes
  • Speeding up diffusion: temperature
  • Speeding up diffusion: smaller molecules
  • Speeding up diffusion: higher concentration?
  • Reading graphs of rate of diffusion

Chapter 3: Diffusion Across Cell Membranes

  • Diffusion of small molecules: carbon dioxide and water
  • Diffusion of ions and polar molecules
  • Diffusion of large molecules
  • Diffusion of nonpolar molecules

Chapter 4: Semipermeable Membrane

  • Definition of semipermeable membrane
  • Membrane pores
  • Transport proteins
  • Reading graphs of ionic movement across semipermeable membranes
  • Facilitated transport
  • Reading graphs of facilitated transport
  • Energy requirements for facilitated transport
  • Osmosis
  • Aquaporin: transport protein for water
  • Aquaporin: transport proteins for gases?
  • Why transport proteins?
  • Maintaining concentration gradients of ions across cell membranes Active transport
  • Energy requirement for active transport
  • Summary of movement across cell membranes

Chapter 5: Equilibrium

  • Equilibrium in a one chamber system
  • Equilibrium in a two chamber system
  • Definition of equilibrium
  • Hypertonic, hypotonic, and hypotonic solutions
  • Equilibrium between hypertonic and hypotonic solutions
  • Movement of water to correct concentration gradients across semipermeable membranes
  • Water moves from hypotonic two hypertonic solutions Electrochemical gradients
  • Active transport to maintain concentration he electrochemical gradients

Chapter 6: Osmosis

  • Reducing osmosis by making extracellular and intracellular fluids isotonic
  • Sodium-potassium pump
  • Red blood cells
  • Red blood cells in hypertonic salt solutions: cell crenation
  • Red blood cells and hypotonic salt solutions: cell lysis
  • Osmotic pressure
  • Measuring osmotic pressure
  • Reverse osmosis to desalinate water
  • Kidney dialysis
  • Coma due to excessive water drinking
  • Emergency treatment of water overdosage
  • Osmotic pressure in plants
  • Rigid cell walls in plants

Chapter 7: Taking in Water and Nutrients in Bulk

  • Pinocytosis
  • Phagocytosis

Unit 6: Take in Energy

Unit 6: Take in Energy

Chapter 1: ATP

  • Chemical structure of ATP
  • Sources of energy to generate high energy electrons
  • Sunlight
  • Chemical bonds

Chapter 2: Classification of organisms by energy production

  • Traditional classification
  • Autotrophs: photoautotrophs and chemoautotrophs
  • Heterotrophs
  • Alternative classification
  • Automakers
  • Heteromakers

Chapter 3: Photoautotrophs

  • Components of sunlight
  • Chlorophyll
  • ATP and NADH
  • Chloroplasts and thylakoids
  • Photosynthesis
  • Reaction center
  • Electron transport chain
  • Water molecules Producing ATP
  • Producing NADPH
  • Making glucose using ATP and NADPH
  • Rubisco
  • The Calvin cycle

Chapter 4: Before photosynthesis

  • Chemoautotrophs
  • Photoautotrophs
  • Cyanobacteria

Chapter 5: Pigments besides chlorophyll

  • Chemical structure
  • Examples
  • Methicillin resistant staphylococcus aureus

Chapter 6: Heterotrophs

  • Glycolysis
  • Pyruvate dehydrogenase
  • Mitochondrial aerobic respiration
  • Krebs cycle
  • Electron transport chain
  • Oxidative phosphorylation
  • Chemiosmosis
  • Mitochondrial heat generation

Chapter 7: Sources of Acetyl CoA

  • Glucose
  • Fat
  • Mobilizing fat for energy
  • Nervous system
  • Endocrine system
  • Animal fat vs. plant oils

Chapter 8: Fermentation

  • Yeast cells
  • Muscles during non-aerobic exercise
  • White meat vs. dark meat

Chapter 9: Muscle Fatigue

  • Hypotheses
  • Lack of glucose
  • Lack of oxygen
  • Toxic buildup
  • Delivery of glucose to muscles
  • Delivery of oxygen to muscles
  • Removal of pyruvate
  • Removal of carbon dioxide

Unit 7: Grow

Unit 7: Grow

Chapter 1: Protiens

  • Functions of proteins
  • Synthesis of proteins
  • The DNA code
  • Reading the DNA code
  • Messenger RNA
  • Ribosomes
  • Transfer RNA
  • Synthesizing a polypeptide

Chapter 2: Regulating protein synthesis

  • Genes
  • Introns
  • Exons

Unit 8: Reproduce

Unit 8: Reproduce

Chapter 1: Chromosomes

  • Autologous chromosomes
  • Sex chromosomes
  • Chromatids
  • Alleles

Chapter 2: Cell cycle

  • Cell cycle

Chapter 3: Chromosome Replication

  • P53 protein
  • Cyclin and cylcin-dependent kinase
  • Helicase
  • Primase
  • DNA polymerase III

Chapter 4: DNA Structure

  • 3′ and 5′ ends
  • DNA replication
  • Okazaki fragments
  • Telomeres

Chapter 5: Mitosis

  • Terminology
  • Prophase
  • Metaphase
  • Anaphase
  • Telophase

Chapter 6: Meiosis

  • Haploid vs. diploid
  • Purpose of meiosis
  • Meiosis I
  • Meiosis II

Chapter 7: Mixing up genes

  • Random separation
  • Crossing over
  • Fertilization

Chapter 8: Comparing Mitosis with Meiosis

  • Advantages
  • Disadvantages

Chapter 9: Vegetative Reproduction

  • Strawberry plants
  • Aspen trees
  • Redwood trees

Chapter 10: Sexual and Asexual Reproduction

  • Fungi
  • Frogs
  • Ferns

Chapter 11: The DNA Code Book

  • Genes
  • Alleles are used to make the same protein.

Chapter 12: Mistakes in the DNA Code

  • Dominant
  • Recessive

Chapter 13: X-linked Mutations

  • Barr body
  • Calico cats

Chapter 14: Mutations

  • Genotype
  • Phenotype

Chapter 15: Pedigrees (Family Trees)

  • Interpreting family trees

Chapter 16: Punnett Squares

  • Autologous traits
  • X-linked traits

Chapter 17: Blood types

  • Antibodies
  • Blood transfusions
  • Establishing paternity

Chapter 18: Mitochondrial DNA

Unit 9: Respond to Internal Changes (Homeostasis)

Unit 9: Respond to Internal Changes (Homeostasis)

Unit 9: Lesson 1

Chapter 1: Homeostasis

  • Acidity
  • Oxygen
  • Carbon dioxide
  • Temperature
  • Glucose concentration
  • Water content
  • Sodium and potassium concentrations

Chapter 2: Temperature

  • What is heat?
  • Electromagnetic energy
  • Photons
  • Infrared radiation

Chapter 3: Body heat

  • Hyperthermia vs. hypothermia
  • Control of body temperature
  • Response to hypothermia
  • Adaptations to hypothermia
  • Response to hyperthermia
  • Danger of hyperthermia

Chapter 4: Control of Water Balance in Humans

  • Brain
  • Kidneys
  • Adrenal glands

Chapter 5: Control of Water Balance in Lower Animals

  • Bacteria
  • Salt water fish
  • Fresh water fish

Chapter 6: Oxygen

  • Breathing in humans
  • Lung structure
  • Lung physiology
  • Emphysema

Chapter 7: Heart

  • Heart
  • Pulmonary vasculature

Chapter 8: Oxygen

  • Partial pressure oxygen in alveoli
  • Oxygen binding to hemoglobin

Chapter 9: Carbon Dioxide

  • Transport to the lungs
  • Hemoglobin
  • Carbonic anhydrase

Chapter 10: Blood pH

  • pH
  • Kidney response to acidity

Chapter 11: Carbonic Anhydrase

  • In the stomach
  • In saliva
  • In the brain

Chapter 12: Regulation of Heart Rate

Unit 10: Respond to Environmental Changes

Unit 10: Respond to Environmental Changes

Chapter 1: Observations

Chapter 2: Creating a hypothesis

  • Hypothesis vs. postulate

Chapter 3: What is the origin of today’s animals?

  • Creating a hypothesis
  • What does the hypothesis predict?
  • Designing an experiment to confirm the prediction

Chapter 4: Discovery of fossils

Chapter 5: Charles Darwin

  • Adaptations of birds
  • Creating a hypothesis
  • On the Origin of Species
  • Darwin’s hypothesis

Chapter 6: Finding evidence supporting Darwin’s hypothesis

  • Eohippus
  • Archaeopteryx
  • Mahakala
  • Middle ear bones in reptiles and mammals

Chapter 7: Terminology

  • Homologous atructures
  • Analogous structures
  • Vestigial structures

Chapter 8: Embryology

Chapter 9: Carbon dating

Chapter 10: Why do plants and animals change?

Chapter 11: Changing the environment

  • Bacteria
  • Eohippus
  • Competition and natural selection

Chapter 12: Genetic diversity

  • Advantage of genetic diversity
  • When does genetic diversity begin?
  • Lamarck

Chapter 13: Hypothesis vs. theory

Chapter 14: Survival of the fittest

  • Misuse of Darwin’s theory

Chapter 15: Advantages of certain traits

  • Sickle cell anemia
  • Moth wing color

Chapter 16: Evolution without environmental change

  • Fish gills
  • Behavior adaptations

Chapter 17: Genetic diversity

  • Create another set of chromosomes
  • Genetic shuffling during meiosis
  • Crossing over
  • Removing Introns
  • Mutations
  • Random gametes

Chapter 18: Advantages of sexual reproduction

Chapter 19: Disadvantages of sexual reproduction

Chapter 20: Disadvantages of mitosis

Chapter 21: Advantage of mitosis

Chapter 22: Introns

  • Increased nuclear complexity
  • Nuclear membrane

Chapter 23: Prokaryotes

  • Bacteria
  • Archebacteria

Chapter 24: Eukaryotes

  • Protists
  • Fungi
  • Plants
  • Animals

Chapter 25: Genetic diversity in prokaryotes

  • Transformation
  • Transduction
  • Conjugation
  • Transposons
  • Mutations

Chapter 26: Genetic traits not due to natural selection

  • Genetic drift

Chapter 27: Species

  • Speciation
  • Why are there species?

Chapter 28: Terminology

  • Species
  • Population
  • Community
  • Ecosystem
  • Ecology
  • Habitat
  • Niche

Chapter 29: Relationships

  • Symbiotic
  • Commensalism
  • Mutualism
  • Parasitism
  • Predator-prey
  • Scavenger
  • Saprophyte

Chapter 30: Classification

  • Herbivores
  • Carnivores
  • Omnivores

Unit 11: Designing Experiments

Unit 11: Designing Experiments

Chapter 1: Hypothesis

  • Creating a hypotheses
  • Confirming a hypothesis

Chapter 2: General Causation

  • Experiment to prove general causation
  • Independent vs. dependent variable
  • The control group
  • Designing the experiment Plotting the data

Chapter 3: Specific Causation

  • Checking each variable
  • Changing the suspected variable

Chapter 4: Mathematics

  • Percent increase
  • Exponents
  • Decimals
  • Translating math problems into English
  • Fractions
  • Percentages
  • Decimals
  • Converting Units
  • Fractions in the numerator
  • Dividing two fractions
  • Fractions in the denominator
  • The metric system
  • Why Fascinating?

    Fascinating Education Approach

    Fascinating Education Approach

    • assumes students know absolutely nothing about chemistry, biology or physics,
    • slices the information very thin,
    • presents the material slowly and clearly,
    • follows a story line,
    • continually shows how chemistry, biology and physics explain or solve some real life observation or problem, and
    • deemphasizes terminology.

    Fascinating Education is Unique

    Fascinating Education is Unique

    Fascinating Education uses a right hemispheric “logic-limbic” approach: instead of the usual written text with explanatory illustrations. Fascinating Education:
    • focuses on scientific facts,
    • eliminates the complexity of science into its essentials, and
    • ensures student mastery of subject matter with periodic tests aligning with national science standards.

    Appeal of Fascinating Education

    Appeal of Fascinating Education

    Students will love learning science using the Fascinating Education method with pictures and attached audio – relating to real life. They can actually see how science works in vivid color, instead of just reading about it!

     

  • Dr. Margulies’ Books Include:

    The Fascinating Body

    The Fascinating Body

    A fun and informative look at how the body works and how to keep it working
    Buy It Now

    Everyday Doctoring

    Everyday Doctoring

    A textbook on medical and neurologic physical diagnosis

    Purchase From Author

    Learning Law

    Learning Law

    Coauthor of Learning Law: The Mastery of Legal Logic, a textbook outlining legal reasoning.

    Buy It Now

    Articles

    Articles

    Dr. Margulies has also published articles concerning the post concussion syndrome and its causes; the medical evidence for and against the diagnosis of brain damage following mild head injuries; the Supreme Court’s 1993 decision in Daubert concerning the trial court’s role in excluding junk science from the courtroom; and the applicability of Daubert to the use of differential diagnosis and neuropsychological testing in proving claims of brain damage.